New year

 

The water

that flows

on either side

of this intentional

division

is the same

What enters this river

upstream

ends up here

both rainwater

and poison

fallen leaves

and discarded trash

So too

today

will flow

into tomorrow

293/724

Dove

 

Sheltered

in snowy pine

I hear your

call

we humans

name it 

mourning

to you

its conversation

292/723

Accumulation

 

The snow

begins to fall

again

so light

nearly invisible

but soon

a flurry

is a drift

is a mountain

So the years

accummulate

until memory

is decades

deep

291/722

Memory[alize]

The moments

we wish

we could live in

Still

and hushed

or

noisy

and rushed

The moments

we want

to remember

The details

the textures

smells

sounds

The moments

we think

we won't forget

The moments

290/721

 

Winter white/ Evergreen

 

The wished for

white

so clean

so bright

reveals

the overlooked

evergreen

stalwart

and quiet

among spring's

joyful leaves

now brings

lustrous color

to a pale

afternoon

289/720

Drowsy

 

All morning

drowsy

Lady Sun

snuggles

in downy layers

of fog

and cloud

Perhaps

I'll join you

for midwinter

nap

288/719

Christmas Dawn

 

Lady Sun

encirles the world

in her dawn embrace

so even sunset's west

is wrapped

in her rosy arms

287/718

Dawn/Eve

Near dawn

I stand

with the trees

in the bright

white

light

286/717

 

Before

 

Before

the blizzard

blew in

on the tail

of icy rain

calm dawn

Seconds are accummulating

like snowflakes

toward

a future

longer day

285/716

Masterpice

 

Really

never

all rosy

and warm

nor

all cloud

and storm

This tapestry

of tragedy

and majesty

lovely

and lowly

This daily

masterpiece

of beginnings

284/715

Chase

All day

the wind has chased

the sun

with clouds

hide and seek

of shadow and light

gray and blue

discouragement

and hope

283/714

 

Be[attitude]

Behind the clouds

sun still radiates

Below the ice

water flows

Under the scab

healing is happening

beneath the leaves

deep in the ground

spring sleeps

Waiting isn't death

it's hope

282/713

 

Lifted

When

the burden

 I choose to carry

feels too heavy

yet

the choice

to lay it aside

equally fraught

I stop

to unpack

to find

not bricks

or lead

but

a chickadee

puffed with his piping

a leaf curled

like the palm

of a sleeping infant

a blue sky

afternoon

281/712

 

 

Forgotten

 

Like the leaf

that fell

in October

Like the last

of the snow

that languishes

in hidden shade

like a voice

from the past

or a face

of a distant friend

recalled now

so not

forgotten

280/711

Forecast

Weather headlines

taunt

with tales

of gales to the east

snow to the knees

smothering trees

Here

the forecast

is overcast

gray

any-season

no-season

279/710

 

Resolution

 

I will find you

bright behind clouds

peeking between

the fingers

of tree limbs

not reflected

or in shadows

I will find you

Lady Sun

before twilight

278/709

Keyhole

 

Your keyhole view

into my

keyhole view

of existence

books

mask

screen

cords

277/708

Wistful

 

You were smiling

over my shoulder

all day

as I stared

bleary

into artifical lights

Finally

emerging

I find you

already descending

along the houseline

Good night, Lady Sun

Maybe

tomorrow?

276/707

Momentary

 

For a moment

this tiny star

this snow-flower

lingers on the glass

perfectly unique

already 

dissolving

275/706

Gather and go

 

The chill

gray air

is full of the calls

of geese

the echoes

sound

like legions

I imagine them

gathered

at the golf course

crowding

the driving range

nibbling grass

still tinged

with green

but the lake

has frozen

Soon

it may be time

to go

274/705

Wishing for snow

 

Wishing

for snow

white and light

embracing

enveloping

erasing

the gray

the bare

the grit and grime

the dead and dormant

Snow to

pat into balls

sculpt into jolly families

fan into angels

Snow for

Christmas

273/704

Waning day

 

Afternoon

draws

fleecy clouds

woven in blue, violet and gray

under its chin

and rests its weary feet

on the golden embers

of waning day

272/703

On pause

 

Today

Winter

is on pause

though a few patches of snow

linger

hidden

in a thicket of bushes

or slumping

in a parking lot corner

Today

children scream

down the path

to the river

exuberantly coatless

and joggers

run freely

in lighter gear

The world seems

open

the bare trees

smaller

the sky

blue and wide and cloudless

except to the west

where evening

is gathering

271/702

Twilight garden

 

Before dawn

the streetlight

flowers bloom

white

and gold

hanging

heavy

from dark stems

670/701

Rime frost

 

The trees

grow blurry

as fog 

descends

their autumn shapes

softened

into almost-flowers

Where the frost

freezes

each branch

blade

and leaf

is outlined

the details

sharper

magnified

by a thin layer

of white

269/700

Color of waiting

The color

of waiting

is gray and blue

green and gold

black branches

against

an overcast sky

268/699

 

Urban wild

Wilderness

contained

and not

where frogs sang

in chorus

and redwing blackbirds

whistled and whirred

where dragonflies darted

and a muskrat paddled

where touch-me-nots

and wild cucumber

formed a carpet

of gold and white

Now

where wind whispers

in dry grasses

and a few songbirds chatter

where snow will blanket

all in silence

until spring

267/698

Captured

Captured

in the newly frozen river

waves

leaves

footprints

goose

duck

the fox

that lives in

the nearby grove

and the first rosy rays

of sunset to come

266/697

 

Flow

 

Lady Sun

releases

a river of light

that flows

like molton 

rose gold

from horizon

to horizon

265/696

In passing

 

These final days

of the year

counting down

to solstice

and the almost

imperceptible turn

toward longer days

We meet

only in passing

Lady Sun

I leave too soon

and stay too late

264/695

Glimpse

 

Back to the window

deep in the daily

grapple

and grind

I almost missed

this glimpse

of Lady Sun's

golden good-bye

263/694

Beauty finds me

Too weary

to look for beauty

Beauty

finds me

as the light

finds the spaces between

to shine through

262/693

 

Gray again

 

Adrift

in an upside-down

wind-tossed sea

There is blue

beneath the gray

There are islands

of calm

in an ocean

of storms

There is

another day

waiting

Sun

Light

Tomorrow

261/692

Embrace the day

Dawn

opens its arms

and I open mine

to embrace the day

260/691

 

Warm blue

 

Lady Sun

kisses away

frost

lingering

in the shadows

and beams

on the new-frozen

pond

which sparkles coyly

in return

Above

benevolent

the sky soars

warm blue

and

endless

259/690

Holiday hush

Our human hum

muted

to a holiday hush

Tall grasses

whisper

heads together

and geese at rest

call encouragement

birds whistle

peep and scold

and squirrels

scold back

and the wind

murmurs

soft goodbyes

to autumn

258/689

 

The good work

 

The woods

are working

fungus

and insect

time

and water

recycling

reclaiming

Unseen work

Slow work

Good work

257/688

Washed out

 

A day

of gray

of swimming

against

the metaphorical current

that still feels

strong enough

to sweep me away

I feel

as fragile

as a leaf

worn

by water

and wind

til only a

whisper

of color remains

256/687

In memory

He also

kept feathers

in a bottle

and thimbles

and wooden spools

driftwood

dried flowers

blue vials

once buried

in the grove

Seeds harvested

from a public garden

and the backyard

These tangible

markers

of fleeting beauty

you can hold 

in your hands

and remember

255/686

In memory of Richard Hamlow 11/23/2011

 

Unfurling

 

Let hope

unfurl

hope

like leaves

emerging

from roots

hidden

and deep

254/685